Expandable Thermal Contact Pad for Variable Patient Fit
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing TTM systems face limitations in effectively accommodating patients of different shapes and sizes due to the fixed sizes and shapes of thermal contact pads, which affect the efficacy of thermal energy exchange.
Innovation Solution
The development of an expandable thermal contact pad with a fluid compartment and an air compartment that adjusts its size based on air pressure, allowing for increased patient contact area and enhanced thermal energy exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed-size thermal contact pads are used, then the device structure is simple, but the adaptability to different patient sizes and shapes is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal contact pad incorporates an expandable structure with multiple expandable sections that can be inflated or deflated to change the contact area dynamically. This allows the pad to adapt to different patient body parts and sizes while maintaining a relatively simple base structure that can be manufactured as a single unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The pad design includes multiple expandable sections that can be nested or folded when not in use, allowing the large-contact-area version to be compacted to fit standard storage and application requirements. This nesting capability enables a single device to provide multiple contact area configurations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple thermal contact pads of different sizes are provided, then the adaptability to different patient sizes is improved, but the device complexity and inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal contact pad is designed as a universal device that can function as multiple different sized pads through its expandable sections. A single pad can be configured to provide small, medium, or large contact areas depending on which expandable sections are activated, eliminating the need to maintain inventories of multiple different pad sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic expandability allows one pad to serve multiple purposes across different patient sizes and body parts, replacing the need for multiple static pads of different dimensions.
3Productivity
If the thermal contact pad contact area is increased, then the thermal energy exchange efficiency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable sections allow the contact area to be increased dynamically when high thermal exchange efficiency is needed, while returning to a compact configuration when not needed. This on-demand expansion provides high efficiency performance only when required, rather than maintaining complex structures continuously.
Solution Approach 2:
The pad utilizes flexible membranes and thin-walled expandable sections that can be inflated or expanded to increase contact area. These flexible structures maintain thermal conductivity while providing the necessary expansion capability without requiring complex rigid frameworks.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The expandable design ensures a better fit for varying patient sizes and shapes, maximizing thermal energy exchange by increasing the patient contact area, thereby improving the effectiveness of targeted temperature management therapy.
Implementation Method 1
an air compartment coupled with the fluid compartment, the air compartment configured to define a lateral expansion of the fluid compartment based on an air pressure within the air compartment
Implementation Method 2
TTM systems circulate a fluid (e.g., water) through one or more thermal contact pads coupled to a patient to affect surface-to-surface thermal energy exchange with the patient
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a medical pad for exchanging thermal energy between a targeted temperature management (TTM) fluid and a patient. The medical pad includes a fluid compartment configured for circulation of a TTM fluid therein. The pad is configured for expansion by providing compressed air to one or more air compartments of the pad, where the expansion defines an increased patient contact area of the pad. An air control module provides air pressure to one or more pads of a TTM system, and the air control module may be incorporated into a TTM system module. The pad further includes a hydrogel layer disposed across an under side of the pad.